Was there anybody in Cairo without seeing the pyramids, at least those of Giza? We have seen these places a thousand times on printed pages, and endlessly studied, read and browsed for information about them, but all that has not reduced the impact caused by their direct vision, now completed by the presence of the human environment, life and turmoil encompassing them, where the satisfaction of the tourists is being fulfilled under a powerful system of control.

The first engraving in Athanasius Kircher’s, Sphinx Mystagoga (Amstelodami: Ex officina Janssonio-Waerbergiana, MDCLXXVI). A rather fantastic recreation, but with real elements of Giza: curious visitors climbing the pyramids, and a clutter of horses, camels, archaeologists, looters and various people around.